In this blog I present the results of my research into the landowning families of the British Isles and the country houses which they owned. Comments, especially in the form of corrections, additional information or new illustrations, are very welcome. Please use the Contact Form in the right hand side bar to contact me privately or the comments facility at the bottom of the page to make a public comment.

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Wednesday, 22 May 2013

(41) Adderley of Hams Hall and Fillongley Hall, Barons Norton

Adderley coat of arms

The family trace their origins to Thomas
Adderley (d. 1538) of Blake Hall (Staffs) (see the previous post). His third son, Ralph Adderley (d. 1598), a lawyer, bought
Coton Hall (Staffs) from Lord Mountjoy in 1558 and was High Sheriff of
Staffordshire in 1575. Ralph’s eldest
son inherited the Coton estate, while the younger sons became merchants in
London. The fourth son, Ralph Adderley
of Alrewas (d. 1613) left an only son, Sir Charles Adderley (1610-82), who acquired
Hams Hall (Warwickshire) by marriage from Ralph Floyer, who had recently bought
it from Sir John Ferrers, equerry and Master of Horse to King Charles I. The family's estate at Norton-in-the-Moors (Staffs) seems to have been inherited at least partly through Charles Adderley's marriage in 1703 to Mary Bowyer. Charles Bowyer Adderley (1743-1826) inherited
the Hams Hall estate at the age of four and rebuilt the house to the designs of Joseph
Pickford of Derby when he came of age in 1764.
At his death without issue in 1826 the estate passed to his great-nephew
and namesake (1814-1905), who was Conservative MP for North Staffordshire from
1841-78 and President of the Board of Trade, 1874-78. Among other claims to fame, he was
responsible for the founding of Canterbury, New Zealand, and laid out his
estate at Saltley on the edge of Birmingham with workers’ housing and one of
the city’s first parks. On his
retirement in 1878 he was created 1st Baron Norton of
Norton-on-the-Moors (Staffs). He was
succeeded in his title and estates by his son, Charles Leigh Adderley, 2nd Baron Norton (1846-1926), who sold the Hams Hall estate in 1911 apart from the
house. The house was, however,
demolished in 1920, when some of the stonework was used in the rebuilding of
Coates Manor (Gloucestershire) by the father-in-law of the 5th Baron’s youngest
daughter, Bernard Firth. Hams Hall Power
Station was subsequently built on the site.

All of the 2nd Baron’s five
sons having died without issue, the title passed in 1944 to his younger
brother, Henry Arden Adderley, 5th Baron Norton (1854-1945), a
barrister, who in 1872 had inherited Fillongley Hall (Warks), an estate bought
by his great-uncle, George William Bowyer Adderley (1787-1872) shortly before
his marriage to a daughter of John Taylor of Moseley Hall in 1823. The house at Fillongley was rebuilt to the
designs of George Woolcot c.1825-30 and enlarged in c.1842 by James Akroyd of
Coventry in a handsome Greek Revival style, and remains largely unchanged. James Nigel Arden
Adderley, 8th Baron Norton, sold the house in 2006 and now lives at Verbier
(Switzerland); the house was again sold in 2010, and remains in private occupation.

Hams Hall, Warwickshire

Rebuilt for Charles Bowyer Adderley in 1764, almost
certainly to the designs of Joseph Pickford, as a three storey seven bay house
with a pedimented three-bay centre carried on Ionic pilasters that rise through
the first and second floors. The design
is a slightly simplified version of Pickford’s St Helen’s House, Derby, which has happily recently been restored. In about 1775, James Wyatt supplied a design for a ceiling in the house, but it is not clear whether this was executed.

St Helen's House, Derby in 2010. The house has since been restored. Image Ilkcam.com

Hams Hall: J.P. Neale's view of the house, published in 1818, by which time the one-bay pavilions to either side of the house had been added.

By 1818, the one bay, single-storey pavilions with blind but architecturally-decorated fronts had been added either side of the main block, but neither the architect nor the date of these additions is recorded. Hams Hall was let during the long minority of the second Charles Bowyer Adderley to Jane, Countess of Rosse. On coming into his inheritance, Adderley laid out the grounds and terrace before the house with the assistance of William Sawrey Gilpin (1762-1843), installed in the hall a terracotta copy of Bertel Thorvaldsen's Alexander frieze and five marble panels by Thorvaldsen, two of which he had been given by, and the rest of which he had commissioned from, the sculptor while staying with him in Rome in 1836. The artist, architect and Egyptologist, Francis Vyvyan Jago Arundale (1807-53), whom Adderley perhaps also met in Rome in 1836, designed a boat house for the grounds in 1839, and he may also have overseen the installation of the frieze and the insertion of tripartite windows on the garden front.

Hams Hall: the garden front and the terrace created by Gilpin, photographed c.1909.
The Life of Lord Norton tells us the 1852 constitution of New Zealand was planned here.

Hams Hall: interior of the hall in c.1909 showing the Thorvaldsen frieze: one of the marble panels can also be seen to the right of the doorcase in the centre of the picture.

In 1890 the house was largely gutted by a fire which began on the second floor and spread rapidly to the roof. While the Birmingham and Tamworth fire brigades tackled the flames, salvage parties rescued most of the books, pictures and furniture from the lower floors, but tragically, falling masonry killed one man and injured another. By the time the blaze was extinguished, only the external walls stood to their full height. The fire had been kept out of the entrance hall, saloon and morning room, but even here there was extensive damage. The Thorvaldsen frieze was smoke-blackened, and wood carvings on the walls of the saloon were water-damaged. But within a year the house had been rebuilt without significant alterations; the work was personally supervised by Lord Norton, who employed no architect, and was carried out by Holland & Hannen, builders.By the early 20th century the setting of the house had been compromised by coal mining and by the creeping approach of Birmingham's outer suburbs. The estate was sold in 1911 except for the house, which was taken down in 1920 and the materials sold; Hams Hall Power Station was built on the site of the house and its grounds. The panels of the Thorwaldsen frieze were acquired by Spink & Co., who sold one to the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen and the remainder to private buyers. Elements
of the facade from Hams Hall were reused at Coates Manor in Gloucestershire, which was rebuilt in 1919-21 for the shipping magnate, Oswald Harrison (d. 1925). Remarkably, his architect was the Arts & Crafts designer, Ernest Barnsley, but the style
of the house is so far removed from the craft integrity and sympathy to
materials of Ernest Barnsley’s other work, that one must conclude he was little
more than a clerk of works, carrying out the wishes of an unusually determined
client.

Fillongley Hall, Warwickshire

The house was begun as a modest two storey seven bay house with a copper-roofed verandah, built to the designs of
George Woolcot and Bryan Browning in 1824-25 for George William Bowyer Adderley (1787-1872). Woolcot's south front and verandah are still there, and the rooms behind are also unchanged: in the centre an ante-room with curved ends containing niches, flanked by a dining room and drawing room.

This unassuming house was enlarged in 1840-41 by James Akroyd of Coventry, with a noble five bay two storey Grecian north front,in the middle of which is a loggia of two
unfluted Ionic columns in antis. Akroyd also added the large bow-ended library projecting on the east side of the house.

Fillongley Hall: entrance hall.

Inside there is quite a grand entrance hall
with four giant red scagliola columns in the corners and a glazed circular skylight, which Gervase Jackson-Stops called 'one of the great unsung interiors of the Greek Revival in England'; for views of the other interiors see here.

The Adderley family of Hams Hall and Fillongley Hall

For the relationship of this branch of the family to the Adderleys of Blackhall, the Adderleys of Coton and the Adderleys of Weddington, please see the previous post.

Adderley, Ralph (d. 1613), of Alrewas (Staffs). Younger son of Ralph Adderley of Coton Hall (Staffs) and his second wife Felicia (d. 1607), daughter of Henry Milward of Doveridge (Derbys), born about 1565. He married, 3 August 1609, Elizabeth (d. 1661) (who m.2, Ralph Floyer of Hints (Staffs), daughter of John Noel of Welsborough (Leics) and had issue:

(1) Sir Charles Adderley (1610-82) (q.v.).He lived at Alrewas (Staffs).He died in 1612/13 and was buried 15 February 1612/13. His widow died 1 May 1661, aged 82.

Adderley, Sir Charles (1610-82), of Hams Hall. Only son of Ralph Adderley (d. 1613) of Alrewas and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Noel of Welsborough (Leics), baptised 6 September 1610. JP for Warwickshire; Equerry to King Charles I; Master of Horse to King Charles II during the minority of the Duke of Richmond. He married first, 17 November 1636 Anne, daughter of Sir Henry Arden of Park Hall (Warks); second, 9 February 1641, Constance, daughter of James Enlon of Flore (Northants) and widow of Robert Wilmer of Sywell (Northants); third, Felicia (d. 1646), daughter of Ralph Sneyd of Keele Park (Staffs) and widow of Sir Edward Fitton , 2nd bt., of Gawsworth (Cheshire); and fourth, 1662, Frances, daughter and co-heir of Richard Cresheld of Evesham (Worcs), serjeant-at-law, and widow of William Jesson of Coventry, and had issue:

The Hams Hall estate at Lea Marston (Warks) was settled on him in 1637 in consequence of his marriage to Anne Arden, who also inherited the manor of Saltley (now part of Birmingham), which remained part of the Hams Hall estate until the early 20th century.

He died in August 1682 and was buried at Lea Marston (Warks), 30 August 1682, where he is commemorated by a monument. His will was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 16 October 1682.

Adderley, Arden (1637-1727), of Hams Hall. Elder son of Sir Charles Adderley (1610-82) and his first wife, Anne, daughter of Sir Henry Arden of Park Hall (Warks), baptised 5 October 1637. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1655) and Middle Temple (admitted 1658). JP for Warwickshire. He married about 28 May 1664 Mary (d. 1707/8), daughter of William Draper of May Place (Kent), and had issue:

He died 6 April 1727 and was buried at Lea Marston, 8 April 1727. His wife died 6 February 1707/08.

Adderley, Charles (1668-1747) of Hams Hall. Eldest son of Arden Adderley (1637-1727) of Hams Hall and his wife Mary, daughter of William Draper of May Place (Kent), baptised 28 September 1668. He married first, 8 April 1703 Mary (d. 1723), eldest daughter and co-heir of Sir William Bowyer, 4th bt. of Knipersley (Staffs), and second, Frances, daughter of Sir William Noel, 2nd bt., and widow of Sir John Chester, 4th bt., and had issue:

Adderley, Bowyer (1705-47), of Hams Hall. Elder and only surviving son of Charles Adderley (1668-1747) and his first wife, Mary, daughter of Sir William Bowyer, 2nd bt., baptised 2 February 1704/05. He married first, 22 August 1726, Elizabeth (d. 1740), elder daughter of Walter Horton of Catton (Derbys) and second, 14 July 1741, his cousin Lettice (d. 1784), daughter and co-heir of Ralph Adderley of Coton Hall (Staffs), and had issue:

(1.1) Arden Adderley, died in infancy;

(1.2) Mary Adderley (1727-74), died unmarried 23 July 1774;

(1.3) Frances Adderley (1729-81); died unmarried 27 June 1781;

(2.1) Charles Bowyer Adderley (1743-1826) (q.v.);

(2.2) Ralph Adderley (1744-1819) (q.v.);

(2.3) Arden Adderley (1747-67); born 23 April 1747; died 24 June 1767.

He inherited the Hams Hall estate from his father in February 1747.

He died 3 November 1747. His first wife died 3 September 1740 and his widow died 18 July 1784.

Adderley, Charles Bowyer (1743-1826), of Hams Hall. Elder son of Bowyer Adderley (1705-47) and his second wife Lettice, daughter of Ralph Adderley of Coton Hall (Staffs), born 27 April 1743. Educated at Queens College, Oxford (matriculated 1761). High Sheriff of Warwickshire, 1778. He married, about 21 May 1777, Mary (d. 1808), only daughter of Robert Hotchkin of Uppingham (Rutland), but died without issue.

He inherited the Hams Hall estate from his father in 1747, and on coming into his inheritance in 1764 rebuilt the house.

He died 12 April 1826 and was buried at Lea Marston, where he is commemorated by a monument designed by Peter Hollins of Birmingham. His wife died 24 July 1808.

Adderley, Ralph (1744-1819) of Coton Hall. Second son of Bowyer Adderley (1705-47) and his second wife Lettice, daughter of Ralph Adderley of Coton Hall (Staffs), born 12 June 1744. He married, 4 August 1778, Dorothy (d. 1797), daughter and heir of Thomas Kynnersley of Loxley Park (Warks) and widow of Thomas Birch Savage of Elmley Castle (Worcs), and had issue:

(3) Ralph Adderley (1781-1851) of Barlaston Hall and Coton Hall; born 15 June 1781; m. 4 July 1816 Rosamond (d. 1856), daughter and heir of William Mills of Barlaston Hall and had issue (see post 43); died 31 January 1851;

(3) Edmund James Adderley (later Cradock) (1816-1903) of Knighton (Leics), born 17 January 1816; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1834); m. 22 April 1848 Marian Elizabeth (d. 1882), daughter of Sir Joseph Edward Leeds, 2nd bt. and had issue; changed his name to Cradock by royal licence, 14 May 1886; died 14 May 1903;

(4) Mary Adderley (1817-69), born 21 June and baptised 7 August 1817; invalid; died unmarried 19 June 1869; buried at Ryde (Isle of Wight).

He died at Cowes (Isle of Wight), 30 June 1818 in the lifetime of his father. His wife died 30 June 1827.

Sir C.B. Adderley, 1st Baron Norton

Adderley, Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Bowyer (1814-1905), 1st Baron Norton, of Hams Hall. Elder son of Charles Clement Adderley (1780-1818) and his wife Anna Maria, daughter of Sir Edmund Cradock Hartopp, 1st bt. of Four Oaks Hall, born 2 August 1814. Educated privately and at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1832; BA 1835); travelled in Italy and France 1835-36, partly with Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (d. 1898). JP and DL for Warwickshire. Conservative MP for North Staffordshire, 1841-78; had a lifelong interest in the development of the British colonies and was a founder member of the Canterbury Association which established the town of that name in New Zealand; President of Board of Health, March-Sept. 1858; Vice-President, Committee of Council for Education, 1858-59; Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Colonies, 1866-68; President of the Board of Trade, 1874-78; appointed to Privy Council, 1858; KCMG 1869; created 1st Baron Norton of Norton-on-the-Moors (Staffs), 16 April 1878. He married 28 July 1842 the Hon. Julia Anne Eliza (d. 1887), daughter of Chandos Leigh, 1st Baron Leigh, and had issue:

(11) Hon. & Rev. James Granville Adderley (1861-1942) MA; born 1 July and baptised 6 August 1861; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1879; BA 1883); a leading Anglo-Catholic clergyman; rector of St Paul, Covent Garden 1918-23; prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral, 1935; died unmarried 1 June 1942; will proved at Llandudno, 28 August 1942 (estate £8,910).He inherited the Hams Hall estate from his great-uncle in 1826 and undertook improvements to the house and grounds c.1836-40. After a fire in 1890 he rebuilt the house.

He died 28 March 1905 and his will was proved 2 May 1905 (estate £49,036). His wife died 8 May 1887.

Adderley, Charles Leigh (1846-1926), 2nd Baron Norton. Eldest son of Sir Charles Bowyer Adderley, 1st Baron Norton (1814-1905) and his wife, the Hon. Julia, daughter of Chandos Leigh, 1st Baron Leigh, born 10 March and baptised 21 April 1846. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1864, BA 1869); Assistant Inspector, Local Government Board, 1870-74; private secretary to his father while President of the Board of Trade, 1874-78. JP and DL for Rutland and Warwickshire. He married 15 December 1870 Caroline Ellen (d. 1922), younger daughter of Sir Alexander Beaumont Churchill Dixie, 10th bt., of Bosworth Park (Leics), and had issue:

(1) Hon. Sybil Maud Adderley (1871-1960); baptised 8 October 1871; m. 2 August 1894 Maj. John Charles Digby Pinney (d. 1944), son of Rev. J.C. Pinney, rector of Coleshill (Warks) and had issue; died 6 April 1960;(2) Ralph Bowyer Adderley (1872-1933), 3rd Baron Norton; born 9 October and baptised 17 November 1872; lived in Kensington; m. 1899 Mary Louisa (d. 1939), daughter of Robert Watson of Ballydarton (Carlow) and widow of Rupert George Inglis Brady, but died without issue, 17 October 1933; will proved 16 December 1933 (estate £970);

(3) Rosamond Caroline Adderley (1874-75); died 30 April 1875 and was buried 5 May 1875;

(8) Hon. Charles Arthur Reginald Kenelm Adderley (1881-1905); born 17 May and baptised 26 June 1881 but died unmarried and without issue 10 May 1905; will proved at Worcester, 23 June 1905 (estate £10,813)

(9) Hon. Humphrey James Arden Adderley (1882-1917); born 16 October and baptised 19 November 1882; served in WW1 as rifleman, London Rifle Brigade; died of wounds received in action, 17 June 1917; will proved 5 September 1917 (estate £1,819)

(10) Hon. Randolph Adderley (1884-1928); born 16 April 1884; died in Auckland, New Zealand, 23 October 1928; will proved at Birmingham, 25 February 1929 (estate £925)

(11) Ronald Woolston Fleetwood Adderley (1885-1944), 4th Baron Norton; born 15 October and baptised 29 November 1885; served in WW1 as Lt, Worcestershire Regiment; m. 20 August 1931 Hylda (d. 1952), daughter of Robert William Tovey of Cheltenham (Glos) and widow of Hilary George Dunbar of Glasgow, but died without issue, 4 January 1944; will proved at Birmingham, 9 February 1944 (estate £212).

He inherited the Hams Hall estate from his father in 1905 but sold it in 1911 except for the house, which he demolished in 1920.

He died 4 December 1926, and was succeeded in turn by two of his sons, who both died without male issue, whereupon the title reverted to his uncle. Will proved 6 May, 27 August and 3 December 1927 (estate £218,650). His wife died 6 August 1922.

Adderley, Rev. George William Bowyer (1787-1872), of Fillongley Hall. Fourth son of Ralph Adderley (1744-1819) and his wife Dorothy, daughter of Thomas Kynnersley of Loxley Park (Warks), born 9 January 1787. Educated at St. John's College and Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge (matriculated 1806). Ordained deacon, 1812 and priest, 1813; rector of Wyfordby (Leics), 1815-21. Blind for the last 17 years of his life. He married, 11 December 1823, Caroline (d. 1855), youngest daughter of John Taylor of Moseley Hall, Birmingham, but had no issue.

He acquired the Fillongley Hall (Warks) estate c.1820 and rebuilt the house there c.1825-30 and 1840-41. At his death the estate passed to his great-nephew, Henry Arden Adderley (1854-1945), 5th Baron Norton.

He died 4 August 1872; will proved in Principal Probate Registry, 10 September 1872 (estate under £70,000). His wife died 30 July 1855.

Adderley, Hubert Bowyer (1886-1961), 6th Baron Norton, of Fillongley Hall. Eldest son of Henry Arden Adderley (1854-1945), 5th Baron Norton, and his wife Grace, youngest daughter of William Bruce Stopford-Sackville, born 21 February 1886. Educated at Eton and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; served in Scots Guards and Reserve of Officers, WW1 (Maj., 1918); Lt-Col. of 1st Suffolk Home Guard, WW2. JP for Warwickshire. President of the Church Union, 1947-50; Lay Guardian of Walsingham Sanctuary. He married 9 January 1912 Elizabeth (d. 1952), daughter of William John Birkbeck of Stratton Strawless (Norfolk) and had issue:

(1) Hon. Rosemary Etheldreda Adderley (b. 1913), born 17 October 1913; m.29 September 1949 Rev. John Paul Drake, son of Canon Frederick Drake of Isle of Sheppey (Kent) and had issue one son and one daughter;

He died 17 February 1961, following a fall from his horse. His wife died 5 May 1952.

Adderley, John Arden (1915-93), 7th Baron Norton, of Fillongley Hall.Eldest son of Hubert Bowyer Adderley, 6th Baron Norton (1886-1961) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of William John Birkbeck of Stratton Strawless (Norfolk), born 24 November 1915. Educated at Radley College and Magdalen College, Oxford (BA 1938), served in WW2 as Major, Royal Engineers. He married 23 July 1946 Betty Margaret, JP (1919-2015), daughter of James McKee Hannah of Domaine de Fontvielle, Aix-en-Provence (France) and had issue:

(1) James Nigel Arden Adderley (b. 1947), 8th Baron Norton, married 1st, 31 July 1971 (div. 1989) Jacqueline Julie Willett and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, 23 April 1997, Frances Elizabeth, daughter of George Frederick Rothwell and had issue a daughter;

Unfortunately I have not been able to make a connection here. You may, however, find it possible to do so using the resources on the Adderley Family Forum (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~adderley/), although as far as I can see the Forum does not currently know of a branch of the family established in Kent for any length of time.

I have a photo (CDV) of Charles Adderley, 1st Baron Norton and 3 CDVs of his wife.https://www.flickr.com/photos/131265528@N03/29831559770/in/dateposted-public/Albumhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/131265528@N03/albums/72157673548275841greetings from GermanyMichael

About Me

I was educated at St Paul's School in London and Keble College, Oxford and went on to train as an archivist in the world-famous Bodleian Library. I spent 37 years as a professional archivist, and was Chairman of the National Council on Archives from 2001 to 2005, and Head of Archives Sector Development and Secretary of the Historical Manuscripts Commission at the National Archives from 2005 until I retired in May 2015.

Alongside my professional career I have also been an architectural historian of the country house. This is a passion nurtured at Oxford, where I was President of the University Architectural Society. Between 1989 and 2001 my three volume study of The country houses of Gloucestershire was published, and my distinctive contribution has been to put together the evidence for the history of country houses and landed estates that can be gleaned from family archives and genealogy with the evidence from the buildings themselves, to tell a richer narrative than any of these sources alone can provide. I am now embarked on an ambitious blog (http://landedfamilies.blogspot.co.uk), which aims to tell the story of every landed family in the British Isles and their country houses. If I continue working hard until I am a centenarian I might finish the job!

Since one big project is never enough, I am also involved as a Trustee and volunteer with the Victoria County History of England, which aims to tell the story of every English village and town, and I do some advisory work for the National Trust, which looks after so many of the country houses I care passionately about.

I have been married for 37 years to my precious and special wife Mary, who mercifully tolerates my obsessions and collections, and even my cooking.